Biography Teall (La Verne Teall) Messer

The following information was submitted by Teall Messer, nephew of the artist:

(Laverne) Teall Messer

Born in Dixon Illinois in 1897, Teall Messer dropped the name Lavern as soon as he came "of age". He went to New York to be an artist and intellectual. He hung out with the playwrights of the time and ended up with an award from the Rockefellers to go to Paris and study painting. This was in the 1920's. He stayed for several years in Paris being the stereotypical American painter there. He had contact with at least some of the famous painters and shared a studio with Alexander Calder. One story was that he and Alexander were dating two French sisters. The girls' mother told them to dro
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